I hope

 I hope I get a new bike.

I hope people like me

I hope she likes me

I hope I get married

I hope I get the promotion

I hope...

I hope...

I hope....

Our lives are filled by our hopes.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Our lives travel between heart-sickness and fulfillment. Consider this: there was once a hopeless people and God spoke to them through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied that God would send a Messiah who would meet the needs of Israel. Isiah 9:6 But it was 700 years later for the promise to be fulfilled. Luke 2:12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” God makes a promise but doesn't give a timeline.

Much of our anxiety comes from our inability to be patient. We mistake "not yet" for "never." To hope in God is to be patient with God. It's believing all the facts are not in yet. Our lives are mapped by our hopes. The map is long but it leads somewhere.

This holiday season look towards the future promised to you by looking at this child, finally arrived. What do you see? Just a baby in a cradle? Or a wooden manger holding Life itself?